They Say That Love is Forever
by KeepItReelCool
Summary: "...Why are you doing this to me?" Gwen asked, looking more than lost and heartbroken. "You take my virginity and then you stop talking to me for two weeks! The next time I see you, you pretend like nothing even happened between us and then you kiss your girlfriend in my face." eventual DxG, rated for language and sexual content.
1. You popped my heart seams

**They Say That Love is Forever/**

**Chapter 1: You popped my heart seams, all my bubble dreams**

Gwen swore that Duncan and Courtney spent more time being broken up than together. Their relationship was more dysfunctional than Izzy's brain and she told him that. Duncan just laughed, not denying because it was true. Gwen didn't understand how they managed to fit. She guessed that they just did. Maybe it was one of those things that didn't make sense and couldn't be made sense of. It was frustrating though because the two were worlds apart. Courtney was "that" girl. She was a straight-A student; bossy and often condescending. She was a part of every club available in school, involved in the community, and on top of all of that juggled being a camp counselor during the summer.

Duncan was the exact opposite and, for a lack of better words, was a delinquent with no apparent future and no real motivation to do anything. He'd even been to juvie once and had been on probation. Yet somehow the two of the most unlikely people were together and had been for two years, on and off though. It frustrated the Goth to no end.

"So what'd you do this time?" Gwen asked, crossing her arms behind her head. It was dark enough to see the stars twinkle clearly in the sky. From where they were in the open field behind the old, abandoned farm it was beautiful. They'd both hit the jackpot when they found this spot and it was _their_ spot, Gwen and Duncan's. Whenever they needed to meet this was their go-to.

Duncan scowled. "What makes you think _I'm _the one at fault?"

Gwen chuckled and shrugged lightly. "Does it matter? You know Courtney always blames you. I don't understand why you let her." She sounded a bit put off and Duncan shrugged, frowning slightly.

"To be honest, I don't know either…"

There was a pregnant pause and then the sound of a cricket.

"You two will probably end up getting together when she returns back from camp." Gwen tried to sound cheery, but couldn't help the bitterness that ended up slipping out. It was amazing after all their years of friendship Duncan never figured out that Gwen was in love with him. Sometimes she felt like it was so damn obvious… not that she wanted him to know.

Besides he didn't even like her like that. He said so when Courtney accused them of sleeping together behind her back last year. Gwen had wished it were true. She didn't know when she fell for him. It was probably in between him cutting off her pig-tail in the first grade and last year when he punched Ace, her ex-boyfriend, for breaking her heart. For some that'd be a horrifying experience, but to Gwen it had been oddly romantic.

Duncan scoffed, "Hmph, if she wants to get back together she'll have to beg on her knees and then while she's down there she can—"

"Duncan!" Gwen flushed at Duncan's innuendo and quickly jerked her leg to kick him in his side. He groaned, but ended up laughing. Gwen rolled her eyes but ended up grinning anyways.

"But all joking aside I won't be the one doing the crawling back to. Not this time." He mumbled the last part, but Gwen heard it. She wanted to believe that, for her own selfish purposes, but she knew how manipulative Courtney could be.

"Somehow I find that hard to believe." She teased.

Duncan raised an eyebrow. "Don't believe me, sweetheart?"

Gwen's heart; her stupid, stupid, heart, skipped a beat when he called her that. She knew he called every girl that, yet when he called_ her_ that with those steely teal eyes and that infuriating, yet sexy smirk of his on his lips she couldn't help but go weak. Good thing she was laying down.

Gwen smirked back, "I believe that is what I just said, _Dunky_."

_Dunky _groaned when she called him that infuriating nick name Courtney insisted on calling him. He wasn't a man for pet-names. "Don't." He warned Gwen, who ignored him.

"Why not, _Dunky-poo, schmooki-wookums?_" Gwen pushed the limit and reached over to pinch his cheeks. He counter attacked by capturing her wrists with his hands.

"Gotcha!"

He looked so proud as he took advantage of her hands being held down to roll them over. In moments he was straddling her hips and pinning her hands over her head. Duncan's eyebrow piercing reflected from the moon light and his teal eyes seemed brighter from her position under him. Gwen cursed her lily white skin because she was sure it was flaming, but she couldn't look away from him. It wasn't like Duncan was trying to break eye contact either.

"I told you not to mess with me." He finally said.

"Yeah, well…" She couldn't think of anything else to say. Witty and sarcastic Gwendolyn Winters was at a loss of words for once in her life. Duncan took notice.

"Nice." He smirked.

"Sorry it's hard to talk when you're crushing me! I can't breathe you jerk!" She was blushing even harder now, and panting too, but it wasn't because his weight was interfering with her breathing. Duncan further pressed harder in to her, smirking, but when their hips ended up aligning he froze when she shivered.

A silence fell between them and normally it was comfortable because Gwen and Duncan could do that, have comfortable silences, but this time the air felt heavy. Gwen couldn't explain it and Duncan was even further from an explanation than her. They didn't think, they didn't speak, they just did.

Their lips just sort of met together mutually. It was tentative at first before quickly deepening with a passionate frenzy. Duncan buried his fingers through Gwen's dark hair while hers gripped at his favorite skull shirt. The grass beneath their skin tickled as they began to undress. His hands felt so good on her skin. They caressed her everywhere and she sighed in between their kisses. She wrapped her thighs around his waist, wanting him closer, _needing _him closer. There was an ache between her that only he could relieve.

She was a little nervous; trembling even because she'd never done this before, but she was glad it would be with Duncan. He guided himself within her warmth and she gasped within his ear, gripping at his bicep because _shit _it hurt. He kissed and suckled her neck as he waited for her to adjust before beginning his slow and shallow thrusts. It still hurt, but the pain began to melt in to pleasure and her soft moans and gasps echoed in Duncan's ear.

Her toes curled from their position around his waist as he glided in deeper from a change in position. They kissed hungrily as he began to speed up, moving closer and closer to the edge. A pressure was building up deep inside Gwen and she swore she was about to explode. She'd never felt this way before. She bit her lip and shuddered violently as she reached her release, and in a few strokes later Duncan followed after her gasping for air like a starving man.

Gwen's legs were stuck to Duncan's skin from sweat but she managed to peel them off weakly, exhausted from their activity. Her mind was still numb as he laid there between her legs. It was awhile before he pulled out, both of them having caught their breaths and realizing what they'd done.

Duncan wouldn't look at her as he got dressed, or at least that's what Gwen guessed because she couldn't look at him. She didn't regret what they did, but he undeniably did. He loved Courtney, he was with Courtney. She could see the conflict in his eyes from where she sat with her knees drawn to her chest.

When Duncan finally pulled his shirt over his head, which was ruined by a grass stain, he muttered a quick goodbye and scurried off leaving Gwen alone and with the feeling that things would never be the same between them.

That was a month ago. Gwen waited for Duncan at the barn the next night, but he never showed up. Nor the next night, or the next night, or the night after that. After the fifth day Gwen figured she'd go to his house and see what was up. It was dark as she climbed over the fence that led in to his backyard. She looked up and saw that his room light was on. She grabbed a few small pebbles and tossed them at the window. She saw the curtains shift a little before the lights went out. She stood there for a moment speechless before chucking the rest of the pebbles at the window in anger. She should have tossed a fucking boulder at the glass, but she didn't want the cops involved knowing somehow Duncan would be blamed.

She clearly flipped off the window before storming off and for the rest of the summer she left Duncan only. It wouldn't be until the first day of school that she'd catch glimpse of his green Mohawk again.

* * *

Chapter title is from Lady Gaga's speechless. Don't own the song, obviously. Do I look like Gaga?

Well, here was chapter one! What'd ya think? Penny for your thoughts? c: Chapter two will be coming soon! I will always post when I expect updates to come out on my profile, so if you're curious you can always check there.

Thanks for reading guys! Don't forget to review.


	2. Misery Business

**Chapter 2: Misery Business**

Gwen didn't want to leave her bed. It was so warm and toasty and she was cocooned comfortably within her cozy quilted blanket. The world was bright and blue outside her window, but thankfully her blinds blocked out the stream of rays that otherwise would irritate her eyes and desecrate her blessed dim room. She had a small, content smile play against her lips and she snuggled deeper within her blankets-

**Beep. Beep. Beep.**

Gwen didn't make a move other than to curl in to herself like a Roly poly. It was time to get up and ready for school, but she made some incoherent noise instead. Being the light sleeper she was it'd be damn near impossible to make her alarm white noise.

A pillow over the head didn't work and her alarm was too far away to smash against the wall. Probably a good thing since her mom would have killed her if she left yet another mark on the wall from taking her anger out on another alarm clock.

Gwen laid there under the blankets until she couldn't take the sound anymore. She growled. "Time to get up, I guess," She grumbled, rolling on to her back to look miserably up at her ceiling. A poster of Rick Genest met her gaze and she sighed. "Give me strength." Lord knows she'd need as much as possible for today.

Finally getting out of bed she padded straight towards the bathroom. A nice, steaming shower would wake up her up and make her feel somewhat human because she knew she didn't look like one with her black and teal hair smooshed to one side and with dark circles darker than the other side of the moon.

Well, at least it was the first day of senior year.

'Like that's supposed to be a good thing?' Gwen thought, stepping in to the spray of the shower and letting it soak her body before she lathered up her hair with her favorite lavender scented shampoo.

She wasn't excited about school starting to say the least. New year, but same shit no doubt. The only upside was she could finally drive herself to school, downside was it was her dad's crappy 1987 Volkswagen Passat. She hoped it wouldn't break down on the way to school.

It didn't take her long to finish getting ready. She dolled her face up with a dab concealer, eyeliner and a little mascara to make her dark eyes stand out a little more. She dressed herself in dark fishnet stockings, a black tunic dress and her favorite knee-length combat boots then marched her way downstairs where breakfast was being cooked.

The smell of scrambled eggs and cooking butter made her queasy, so she settled for an apple from the basket instead. She cleaned the red fruit off and sat down at the kitchen table next to her dork of a little brother, Tyler, ruffling his hair.

"Hey!" He cried, swatting her hands away before indignantly fixing his hair. "Quit messing with my hair!"

"Looked pretty messed up before I touched it!" Gwen quipped, sticking her tongue out. Tyler stuck his tongue out as well and pretty soon they were making faces at each other. She was giving him a cross-eyed looked, fish lips, and a pig nose when a flash blinded her. Purple and black dots danced in Gwen's vision.

"Oh it's my Gwennie's first day of senior year!" Gwen's mother gushed, looking as if she was going to cry. Knowing her she probably was. With a camera in her hand she began snapping more pictures, blinding Gwen with the flash.

"Mom!" Gwen growled, getting dizzy from all dots floating around. "Stop it!"

"Oh I just can't help it! Next year you'll be going to college and then next thing I know you'll be married, having my grandbabies, and oh! I can see it now!" She held her hand to her chest dramatically before she took more pictures while Tyler cackled beside Gwen at her misfortune.

Gwen punched his arm hard. "I wouldn't laugh if I were you. You're next." She warned. Then sure enough their mother then focused on Tyler, "her baby boy who was embarking on his last year of junior high before big boy high school!"

Gwen ignored her brother's plea of help, waving goodbye to him mockingly before abandoning him to the vulture known as their over sentimental, coddling mother.

Her car was at the foot of their driveway for precaution reasons really. Last time the engine had failed to start and apparently since then her dad had gotten everything fixed, but Gwen was positive her car's life was hanging on a thread regardless of the new engine.

First pickup was Leshawna, one of her closest friends. To be honest the two were a world's a way in interests and weren't really similar at all, yet they still managed to mesh together. Really, Gwen loved Leshawna's antics, blunt honesty, which she really appreciated, and their shared hatred of the bitch known as Heather.

She beeped the horn as soon as she pulled up in front of the loud girl's home and a few moments later Leshawna came rushing out. The black girl hesitated getting in the car after actually seeing it. "Damn girl, this ride is busted." She looked skeptically at the car. "You sure it ain't about to break down?"

Gwen bit back a grin. "Listen, you can ride the bus…" She threatened, knowing fully well that Leshawna wasn't going to. It was still funny to see the horrified look on her face.

"Oh hell to the naw!" Leshawna quickly pulled the door handle to open the door and it came clean off. Both girls were silent as they stared at the detached door handle before bursting out in laughter.

"Just toss that in the back seat and hurry up and get in! We still have to pick up Bridgette." Gwen sobered up her chuckling and managed to open the door from the inside. Leshawna tossed the handle somewhere to the back and climbed in, buckling herself in slowly lest the seatbelt break as well.

"Girl ain't gettin' a ride from her boy?" Leshawna asked.

"No, not today. She said she wanted to ride with us on the first day." Gwen answered, pulling away from the curb and slowly driving off. She didn't want to scare the car too much.

Leshawna snorted, "Well, not until she sees how much of a ride your car actually is."

Gwen laughed. "Shut up, Shawna. It's vintage."

"Yeah, vintage garbage." Leshawna retorted before laughing.

"Whatever. At least I have a ride." Gwen pointed out, smirking.

Leshawna rolled her eyes. "That's why I got you, girl. So how was your summer?"

Gwen was silent for a moment. "It was all right. I spent most of it with Duncan."

"Why am I not surprised? When aren't you with that boy?"

It was true she and Duncan were always together, but what Leshawna didn't know was they weren't really talking right now. She hadn't seen him since that night. She didn't even know if she wanted to tell Leshawna that she lost her virginity either and to Duncan no less. She knew she could trust the girl, but she also knew that Leshawna hated cheaters and, well, Duncan wasn't exactly single when they'd had sex.

"Actually we aren't talking right now."

"For real?!" Leshawna shouted loudly, hurting Gwen's ear. "Never thought that would ever happen! What he do?"

Gwen chuckled. Of course Leshawna thought it was Duncan's fault. It was her fault, or maybe it was both of their faults, but really she should have just pushed him away when he kissed her.

"Uh actually it was my fault. It was over something stupid." Gwen tried to make it seem trivial, thinking Leshawna would drop it, but the girl just kept looking at her expectantly. Gwen forgot this was Leshawna.

"You're gonna have to tell me more than that." Leshawna said, proving Gwen's point. You couldn't be vague with this girl. She needed to know _everything_. Gwen sighed.

"Seriously Shawna, it was because I broke one of his favorite gore movies. It was a classic and isn't even sold anymore." The lie came easily, and actually it really wasn't a lie. She had broken one of his discs, but that had been earlier on in the summer and he totally forgave her after throwing her sleeping body in to her neighbor's swimming pool in retaliation.

Gwen smiled at the memory. After shouting Duncan's head off, they both laughed and went swimming in their underwear before the neighbors could catch them.

Leshawna looked incredulous and shook her head. "Boy needs to get over it. That ain't nothing to ruin a friendship over. Want me to smack some sense in to him?"

Gwen shook her head and laughed. This was why she loved Leshawna. "Thanks, but no thanks."

It didn't take long to reach Bridgette's house and the blonde came running out, eager to see her friends after a whole summer in California. She told them about how awesome the waves had been and how she wished they could have come with.

"Thanks, but no thanks. You know how my hair gets when it hits water. One drop and my hair goes POOF." Leshawna complained.

When they arrived at school, Gwen tried to park but (was that DJ?) ran in front of her car chasing after something small and fluffy. Gwen immediately swerved to the right to avoid hitting him and ended up hitting a brand new white jeep instead. She reversed some to see the damage. Her car had left a dent and a yellow paint stain on the other's bumper and she paled. "Fuck."

"My car!" Heather screeched, jumping out of the white jeep. "Urgh what the hell, Weird Goth Girl!" She screamed, noticing she was the culprit to damaging her new baby.

"Sorry." Gwen offered, but the apology did nothing to soothe Heather who was fuming.

"Sorry? Sorry!? You just ruined my car!"

Gwen at this point stopped trying to placate Heather. She was never sorry to begin with once she figured out whose car she had a fender bender with. "SORRY." Gwen tried again, but honestly Heather's voice was beginning to irritate her so she figured it was time to end this little tete-a-tete. She shrugged and gave a half-assed sorry again before attempting to park again. This time successfully.

The girls all got out of the car and Gwen glared at the crowd they attracted. Of course the first day couldn't go by without incident.

DJ looked sheepish as he came up to the girls, especially at Gwen. "Uh sorry, it's just my bunny—"

"Why the hell would you have a bunny with you?" Gwen asked, looking totally pissed off with her arms crossed underneath her curves. She looked dangerous and DJ cowered underneath the wrath of her glare. Suddenly grinned, this frightened the boy even more. "You know what? I don't care because of you I managed to piss off Heather."

DJ gave her a questioning look, wondering if she was all right in the head. "Okay?"

Gwen and Heather were like sworn enemies and it all started in the 2nd grade when Gwen had puked on the Princess' shiny Mary-Jane's. In retaliation Heather had put gum in Gwen's hair and it was war from then on out.

"You know she's probably going to get you back though right?" Leshawna warned her, knowing that Heather could play pretty dirty.

Gwen shrugged off Leshawna. "What's the worst she can do?"

Leshawna just gave her an 'all right' look before looking back over at DJ, who really did have a bunny. It poked its little head out of the opening of his backpack, nibbling on a carrot.

"Can I see?" Bridgette asked DJ, her eyes going goo-goo over the little furball. DJ brightened and nodded eagerly, pulling his backpack off his back to take the little critter out.

Gwen shook her head and told her friends she was going to head to her locker before she walked off alone. This year senior lockers were in the West Wing. The hallway wasn't really crowded, but there were some people getting their lockers settled.

Gwen hoped she wouldn't run in to Duncan. Not right now. Just the thought of it made her insides churn nervously. She didn't know what was up between them. Was he angry at her? Why was he avoiding her? Then again after that night Gwen didn't really try much to reach out to him feeling more than a little pissed that he was ignoring her, but now she was worried. He was her best friend and she really couldn't say that about anyone else. Sure she, Leshawna and Bridgette were close, but she told Duncan everything and he just got her like no one else could. She didn't know what she would do if she lost him.

Gwen sighed and pulled out her schedule. It told her new locker number. She quickly scanned the top of the paper. 509. She looked around noticing the numbers on the lockers read: 500, 501, 502... It should be a little further down right by the couple that was heavily making out. Gwen rolled her eyes. Couldn't those horny assholes get a room? She really didn't want to see what looked like soft core porn every day.

She kept her eyes away from them, not even caring to get a good glimpse of them. She reached in to her bag to get her own lock, not trusting the school's because they had a poorly hidden list of combination codes and last time someone went through her locker and left a dead fish. She was almost positive it had been Heather. It didn't matter though because she got the girl back by leaving a nest of angry bees in hers.

"Oh my god, Gwen? Is that you?"

Gwen stiffened. She could A) pretend she didn't hear or B) quickly put away her things and go or C) all of the above.

"I know you heard me!"

Gwen sighed before turning on her heels with a very much so forced smile. "Courtney…hi." When she noticed Duncan too and she stilled again, not sure what to say. He seemed to take the initiative and gave her a wink, or at least she thought it was a wink. It happened so fast it could have been an eye twitch. Gwen gave a little wave motion to him, but inside she was in turmoil. 'What the hell? After ignoring me for a month all he does is winks!? What does that even mean?'

Courtney came a long way from the suspicious bitch that she used to be. Now she tried to be civil with Gwen for Duncan's sake. But in reality Gwen just figured Courtney wanted to be close enough so that she and Duncan couldn't get any closer than they already were. 'If only she knew what we did over summer. Actually, no, no she doesn't need to know.'

"So how was your summer?" Courtney asked even though she probably didn't even care. She was just asking so that it didn't seem like she was being overbearing when she'd brag about her summer. And Gwen knew she was just itching to do that.

"Oh, it was okay." Gwen said, vaguely, trying not to look at Duncan even though she could feel his eyes burning in to her body.

"Oh, that's nice. You want to know what I did?" Courtney asked, gearing up to talk about something Gwen didn't care about.

'No not in particular, but you're going to tell me aren't you?' Gwen thought, sarcastically. Outwardly she nodded reluctantly.

"Well, camp this year was cancelled due to an infestation of termites, so instead they sent me to Nicaragua…" At that point Gwen just tuned Courtney out. She was sure Duncan had to because he had his hands stuffed in his pockets and was looking off to the side. When their eyes met she bit her lip, out of nervousness, but it drew his eyes to them.

No, no, no. He wasn't supposed to look like he wanted to kiss her! Not when she undeniably wanted him to. She just wanted to grab his neck and pull him down eye level to her so that she could draw their lips together. She wondered if it would feel as good as the first time. Probably even better. Their little moment was ruined when Courtney looked between the two, seemingly not noticing that they had been making lusty looks at each other.

"Were you guys even listening?!" She accused, looking pissed that she'd been ignored.

"Sure was, babe." Duncan said, kissing her forehead to soothe her. Courtney beamed and pulled Duncan down to her level so that they could kiss. Gwen glowered, threw her things in her locker and left without word. He probably hadn't even notice she'd left.

The hallways were finally starting to get crowded. First bell had rang, so she figured she would head to her first class preferring not to be late on the first day. She had AP Psychology with Mr. Jeckowitzky. Maybe the class would help her understand what was going on in Duncan's head because otherwise she had no clue what that boy was thinking.

-x-

The first day of school wasn't even over yet and Gwen felt like she was in hell. Classes were nothing but introductions and going over the syllabus, but they were long and boring. She had no classes with her friends so far, but in Calculus she, _yay_, had Courtney and that was about it. Talk about being a total bummer.

It was lunch time now; popularly agreed to be the worst period of the day, seriously. Any normal high-schooler would be excited for lunch time, but not the students in Wawanakwa High. Not as long as they had Chef Hatchet serving them "food".

Gwen moved forward in the lunch line and turned green when the slop was plopped on her tray. It looked a little too gray and lumpy to be clam chowder. She would've gone with pizza, but it looked like the pepperoni was moving by itself. After she paid for her meal she looked around for a familiar face, but if she didn't find one it wouldn't be the end of the world. She hadn't earned the title "Loner" for the hell of it.

"Gwen!"

Leshawna waved the Goth over from a table in the corner. Gwen made her way over, but didn't see the foot being stuck out by one of The Populars. She stumbled over it, but didn't trip and ignore the roar of laughter and high-five's that came from the table now behind her. She could especially hear Heather's cackling, but she kept her head up high.

"Is that really all you've got, Heathen?" She rolled her eyes before continuing like she hadn't just tripped, infuriating Heather, who was immediately attended to by Cody, but she shoved him away glaring at the back of Gwen.

Gwen caught eye contact with Duncan who was over sitting at a table alone with Courtney. He'd been doing that ever since the two began dating. Something about Courtney claiming they needed their alone time without the distraction of friends. She thought it was stupid, and so did he, but he never complained, which was weird because Duncan never stood up the chance to complain. It was just another reason why she didn't understand their relationship.

She gave him what she hoped was a blank stare and not one of longing before she continued over to Leshawna.

"Damn, you would think white girl would learn a lesson from the bee's last time to be starting another war with you." Leshawna commented, taking a reluctant bite out of her pizza with the pepperoni plucked off.

"Yeah, well, she thinks she can one up me but she's not clever enough." Gwen said as she sat down on the table's bench. She attempted to start her lunch, but couldn't do it. She wasn't suicidal enough.

"So what class you got next?" Leshawna asked.

"P.E, which totally sucks because we're seniors! We should be exempted, but I think Principle McLean loves making us suffer."

"Girl, you just noticed that? I got P.E next too though. Glad to know I got one friend who can slack with me." She looked so happy, but Gwen had to burst that bubble.

"Shawna, I actually want to pass this year." She said, remembering the time they had gym together sophomore year and Gwen had flunked.

"You think I don't? But they always got us running and you know I can't do that stuff!"

Gwen shook her head and grinned. "I think you'll enjoy it this year. I heard the new assistant gym teacher is smokin'."

"Who's smoking?" Bridgette asked joining them along with Geoff, DJ and Owen.

"Apparently the new assistant gym teacher is." Leshawna answered, already looking interested as she looked at Gwen for more deetz.

"Oh, so you guys have gym next too?" Bridgette asked, pulling out her own bag of lunch to eat. Smart girl. Unsurprisingly Owen was vigorously chowing down on the disgusting school food. He opened his mouth to talk, food flying everywhere. "Me too!"

Gwen looked disgusted before looking away. "Yeah, unfortunately, but even with the assistant as long as Coach is still there I know it's going to be rough. Think they'll go easy on us this year?" She looked around and everyone had the same face.

"Am I dating Rosie Jones?" DJ asked, raising an eyebrow. Gwen rolled her eyes as well as the rest of the girls at the table.

"I hate it when you do that. Just say no." Gwen said, looking up just in time to see Duncan walk past. They shared a glance before he looked away and continued on looking the epitome of cool with his hands in his pocket. Gwen sighed.

"Offer still stands." Leshawna said, reminding Gwen of her proposition to slap some sense in to Duncan. Gwen just shook her head, but smiled anyways.

-x-

Gwen was cringing. It seemed like some sort of cruel joke that she had gym last. Now she _literally_ had to survive last period. They all assembled in the gym to get the day's gym activity and be introduced to the Coach. Gwen had spotted Duncan a few people away, but no Courtney. The brunette had probably used a threat involving her lawyers. When didn't she?

Gwen sat down next to her friends, but couldn't keep her eyes off of Duncan who was sitting alone looking menacing as usual. They exchanged glances and that's when the Coach Grignolt came bounding in to the gym with a much more milder, and timid bald man trailing behind him.

"So much for smokin'" Leshawna mumbled, glumly. Gwen just sympathetically patted the girl's shoulder.

"Good morning maggots! I won't go through interactions because you all know who I am and if you don't YOU WILL." He stared each and every person in the eye until they all looked away, uncomfortable. Of course Duncan had to be obnoxious and held the stare the longest, a rebellious smile playing on his lip. Coach and Duncan had a relationship where they both tried to piss the other off more. It looked like Duncan was winning by the twitching of Coach's left eye.

"Today's game is Dodge ball! I'm sure you sissies all know the rules. See this ball?" Coach Grignolt held up a ball with his bulging, muscular arm, making some of the new kids gulp. "YOU DODGE IT." He threw it toward some poor saps head, who just so happened to be Harold.

"Ow man!" The teen moaned, holding his head where the hard ball had hit it. He received some sympathetic looks from everyone, but it was obvious everyone was thinking, 'Better him than me.'

"Any questions?" Coach looked like he expected no questions, in fact, with the look on his face it seemed like he didn't want any questions, but some kid raised his hand anyway.

"So, uh, why are we using basketballs instead of softer, rubber ones?"

The vein in Coach's neck looked like it was about to burst. "BECAUSE IT BUILDS CHARACTER!" He suddenly shoved the ball painfully in to the chest of Duncan and to a few other people before the tossing of basketballs, er dodgeballs, began. "Let the games begin!"

Fuck, fuck, fuck, Gwen barely managed to escape a painful hit to the side. She jumped over one kid who hit the floor after being bonked on the head and figured if she crept towards the door she'd be able to escape this madness.

All of a sudden Duncan grabbed her hand and together they ran and dodged the basketballs making it to the door that led to the outside hallway. The hallway was empty and quiet except for the sounds of their feet hitting the linoleum. It reminded her of that scene in the Breakfast Club when everyone was running through the halls to avoid the assistant principal. Apparently it did for Duncan too because she could hear him humming _Fire in The Twilight _by Wang Chung.

Gwen saw the "Caution: Slippery" sign ahead of them and began sliding all over the place along with Duncan. She clutched his arm and he managed to steady them and she dared to look over at him and he looked back at her with a smirk.

They continued running, thankfully on dryer ground, until they reached a set of doors. Behind them were two flights of stairs that lead to the Coach's office. Duncan led her in first and locked the door behind them. "We made it." Duncan said with a grin, plopping down in to the spinning chair of Mr. Grignolt.

"Yeah we did." Gwen said, a little breathless. She began to calm down and that's when the situation finally hitting her. She was alone with Duncan after weeks of them not speaking. She'd never felt awkward around Duncan in her life, but right now she had no idea what to do with herself.

Duncan noticed. "What's the matter? You're standing like you've got a stick in your ass."

That got Gwen to instantly loosen up. She crossed her arms defensively and scoffed. "Shut up! I am not."

Duncan shrugged and twirled around in the chair like he was five again. Gwen wondered if they were just going to pretend that they hadn't had sex and that he hadn't been ignoring her for the last few weeks.

"Duncan, stop that you're making me dizzy looking at you!"

"Then don't look, babe." He looked at her challengingly before spinning around again. He eventually stopped though to plop his legs up on the desk. "Let's see what Grignolt has in his drawers. I bet there's some high-class porn somewhere. How much you want to bet?"

Gwen rolled her eyes.

"I'm not betting on whether or not Coach has porn in his drawers!"

"Why not? Scared?" He challenged her cheekily, knowing her well enough that she wouldn't back down if he questioned her bravery.

Gwen huffed. He was on then. "Fine! First born child?"

"Setting the stakes high? I like that in a woman." He wiggled his eyebrows and Gwen rolled her eyes but there was a slight blush to her cheeks.

It was silent except for the sounds of Duncan rummaging through the gym teacher's things. Gwen wrapped her arms around her waist. She needed to ask Duncan what was up with them. It was killing her inside. "Duncan—"

"Jackpot!" Duncan cried out, pulling out two DVD cases with graphic pictures on the cover and then holding then up like trophies. "I believe you owe me your first born child, sweetheart." He gave her a boyish grin before observing the two covers.

"You perv," Gwen scolded, reaching to snatch the DVD's out of his hand, but he held it back and away from her.

"Hey! Never come between a man and porn unless…" He pulled her on top of him so that she was straddling him on the chair, "You're willing to offer up the real thing."

Gwen smacked his face playfully and shoved herself away from him. "You wish." She said indignantly, but inside she was screaming for him to pull her close again. She could feel the heat between her legs and a heady fog overcoming her brain. She sighed, looking defeated. "What are you doing Duncan?"

Duncan gave her a weird look. "Isn't it obvious? I'm sitting here, looking at—"

Gwen shook her head, clearly not amused for once. "You know that's not what I meant. Why are you doing this to me?" Gwen asked, looking more than lost and heartbroken. "You take my virginity and then you stop talking to me for two weeks! The next time I see you, you pretend like nothing even happened between us and then you kiss your girlfriend in my face."

"Well yeah she's my girlfriend…" He looked at her, not sure what she wanted him to say. It was true after all. His words and blatant disregard to the fact that his actions meant a lot more to her hurt and it was written all over Gwen's face. Why was Duncan such an idiotic boy?

"Really Duncan? Really? That's all you've got to say. You're a real asshole and I'm not even joking this time." She shook her head, blinking back tears. "I'm leaving." She made her way towards the door, but Duncan quickly got up and stopped her.

"Let go of me, Duncan." She tried to shake off his larger hands that gripped her elbow.

"No." He said stubbornly, pulling her backwards in to his chest that felt more like a brick wall.

"Please." She sounded tired, feeling conflicted on whether or not to lean in to his body or to fight with all her will to break away from him.

"No." He pressed a kiss to her neck. Gwen tried to shrug him off of her again, but he was much stronger. He sucked on a patch of her skin and she involuntarily sighed, leaning further back in to him. "That's right, Sunshine. You can't resist this charm."

No she couldn't, but she kept her poker face.

"C'mon, babe. Where's that little pretty smile of yours?" He tried to tickle a grin from her, but she wouldn't budge. He whistled low. "Damn, won't even crack a little. Maybe you really are Satan's daughter…"

That got a rise out of Gwen. She giggled softly. "Shut up Duncan."

"She smiles! BUT it's at the mention of Satan. Should I be worried?"

"Ugh, I hate you!" She sighed. She really hated how she couldn't stay angry with him.

"No you don't." He said smugly, "In fact, I'm betting you_ love_ me!"

Gwen's breath caught in her throat, but she quickly hid her reaction. She put up a teasing façade, and spun around, wrapping her arms around his neck. "And what if I do?"

It was a harmless question, but Gwen was watching almost hawk-like for his answer. For all he knew she was playing along with him, but she really did want to know. He just ran his fingers through his green locks and smirked. "Who could blame you? Now what do you say we christen Grignolt's desk?"

He totally just evaded her question with another question! And a sexual one at that. That was such a cop out, but Gwen didn't have the energy to truly be angry. She knew what he was doing. She finally understood, at least she thought she did. This was his way of telling her not to ask questions. Questions would lead to answers that she may or may not want to hear.

If she and Duncan just did and acted on instict there wouldn't be any thoughts on how wrong this was, even if it was all too right. He had a girlfriend and she was supposed to be just his best friend. She was thinking too much.

Gwen sighed, stepping away from Duncan. He didn't make any move towards her now. The ball was in her court. She walked over to the desk and abruptly shoved all the papers, pens and trinkets off of the desk before propping herself on to the wood. Her decision had been made.

"Rock my world, killer." She gave him a heated look, biting her lip enticingly.

He didn't hesitate.

Duncan was such a skilled lover, but then again Gwen had nobody else to compare to. She let out a soft moan as he massaged her breasts as his mouth latched on to her neck. She ran her fingers through his hair, scratching the scalp slightly before digging in at the nape of his neck when his hands found their way in to her shorts. He rubbed her through the wet material and she couldn't help but arch her back, pressing their bodies together, wanting him to sink his fingers in.

"Duncan." She panted.

He smiled against her neck. "How much time do we have?"

"Mm, do you really think I can read the clock right now?" She asked, slipping her eyes shut in pleasure. They snapped back open when he pulled his hands out. "_Duncan_." He gave her a blank look and she whined pitifully before looking around for a clock. "1:45."

"Good."

"Good? We have five minutes before P.E's over and before Coach comes expecting his office to be _empty._" She slid off the desk, but he pushed her back on and she could feel the bulge in his shorts press against her thigh.

"Five minutes is more than enough."

He leaned in to kiss her, coaxing her mouth open with a lick of his tongue against her lips. They made out heavily as he slid down his shorts just enough for him to grip himself and he slid her shorts down to her ankles where they pooled around her sneakers.

"Ah, _fuck_." Gwen squealed when he suddenly slammed in to her, using her hips for leverage. The desk rocked beneath them as they met each other thrust for thrust. It was hard and incredibly fast and not even two minutes later Gwen could feel her nether regions clench around him as her orgasm rattled through her. He followed soon after, shuddering as he released inside of her.

"I don't know if I can walk." Gwen said afterwards, legs feeling like jello when she stood up to fix her shorts. Duncan swooped her up bridal style and she laughed, resting her head against his chest. They walked out of the office, leaving a mess behind.

Back in the locker room, Gwen was floating on high. She had her back turned to all the girls as she pulled her gym shirt over her head and stepped out of her shorts.

"What's with the dopey smile, girl? I know it ain't from today's gym class. The only one who seemed to be enjoying it was Eva."

Both girls looked over to the macho, dark haired girl who was intensely doing bicep curls. She made intense eye contact with Leshawna and Gwen and the two girls quickly looked away, shuddering slightly. That didn't break Gwen's mood though. She smiled, secretly.

"Oh it's nothing Shawna. Just thinking about how happy I am that we get to go home now."

She quickly redressed herself, but not before Courtney caught sight of the bruises on her hips. "Oh my god, Gwen! Are you all right? Those look like you were assaulted!" She looked at Gwen with wide eyes. "I have a lawyer especially for that."

Gwen hurriedly denied the claim. "No, no, they're just bruises from the basketball!"

"But they look like finger prints." Courtney said, clearly not believing Glen. "And is that a hickey on your neck?" Courtney was talking so loud now, Gwen wouldn't be surprised if her ancestors in Russia could hear the girl.

Gwen tried to hiss at Courtney to shut the hell up, but Leshawna herded herself over there along with Bridgette and now the whole locker room was discreetly listening in. They all wondered if she was back with Ace so soon after he had publicly broken up with her for Heather.

"Girl, if you've got someone on the side you better tell us now!" Leshawna did not appreciate being left out of the loop.

Bridgette stood next to the black girl, nodding her head, but at least had the decency to lower her voice. "I agree, but probably somewhere a little more private?" She gave Leshawna a look, who had the decency to look sheepish. Her inner scandal lover got the best of her.

Gwen gave a heavy sigh, feigning like she was annoyed, but she was really feeling nervous because if she couldn't convince them now they would know. "Okay, listen, these are bruises from the game. Some idiot got too in to the game and accidentally grabbed me and even if I had a guy Leshawna, Bridgette you know I'd tell you guys and it wouldn't be in the locker room for _everyone _to hear."

Heather scoffed. "Please, like Goth Girl McPasty could attract anyone besides the delusional hobo who lives behind the gas station."

"No one was even talking to you, so I suggest you shut your mouth!" Gwen snapped and Lindsay gasped.

"You can't talk to Heather like that!" She said, looking absolutely shocked that someone would try to know down Heather a peg or five.

"Well I just did, Barbie!" Gwen sneered.

She quickly changed her clothes successfully hiding the marks, but not before catching her two girlfriend's gazes again. "What?" She hissed. "I'm not lying." They didn't believe her, but they didn't have too. She wouldn't tell. Not a soul, but damn her if she didn't wish that she could tell the world.

* * *

Sorry this chapter was late! I got lazy, then I scrapped a lot of stuff and now I'm in New York for vacation and I had to find wi-fi, which was difficult but I found some! Anyways, Ace, who the hell is he? I know you all are thinking that. Ace is my OC. I don't know if you'll be introduced to him so for now don't worry about him lol. I was going to use Trent, but I've got plans in store for him -rubs hands together-. I've actually got a lot in store for this story I'm excited :D Knowing me though it's all subject to change so I won't say much lest it turn out to be a lie.

BTW, this chapter is ridonculously longer than my usual! (14 pages in word O_O) I was going to split it but decided not to because breaking it up would've made the next chapter have an awkward flow I think.

Curious, but would you guys prefer longer chapters or shorter ones? And when I say shorter, I mean around Chapter one's size? ALSO, just to mess with your minds I have a lot of foreshadowing on what _might_ happen to Gwen in the future, lol. Can you spot them? They're pretty obvious, but then again it's probably only obvious to me because I wrote it haha.

Please review! I thank you so much for the previous reviews, alerts, and favorites. They really motivated me. And, as always, thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed~


	3. The aggro of my furied heart

**Chapter 3: The aggro of my furied heart**

"I think Gwen has a secret beau."

Duncan hid his surprise at Courtney's statement and played it off pretty cool. He slid his arm around her shoulder and she snuggled in to his chest as they sat on one of the benches in front of the school. She had some sort of after school priority, but it didn't start until later and she wanted to spend some time with him which was pretty much routine.

"What makes you think that, babe?" Duncan asked.

"Well, she had hickeys all over her during gym that weren't there before! At least I don't think so and she was _so _defensive. I can spot a liar when I see one." She boasted before looking at Duncan, speculating. "Do you know who he is?" She asked nosily.

Duncan smirked. "Your guess is as good as mine, Nosy Miss Rosie."

She frowned at him before sighing dreamily. "I think it's kind of cute to sneak off during gym for a quick hook up." She then pouted and looked up at Duncan accusingly. "Why can't _we_ do that?"

Duncan rolled his eyes. "Maybe because you're never there and when I suggested it last year you shot me down and yelled at me for even considering having you miss a class."

"Well, I think I change my mind. When you have a bad boy for a boyfriend his _qualities _have to rub off on you, right?" She asked rhetorically, looking up at him with mischievous brown eyes. "Just like my qualities rubbed off on you." She poked his chest.

He raised his eyebrows and humored her. "And what qualities were those, Sweetheart? Neuroticism?"

She hit him hard in the chest and he let out a quiet "ow". "No. Like, for example, ever since we've gotten together you've been coming to school more often."

That was actually Gwen's handiwork. At first she bribed him with tickets to a local freak show that he wanted to see, but even after that was over and she had nothing left to hang over his head he still went. He just had this spur of the moment, innate feeling to not disappoint her. Seeing as he had the tendency to do that to everyone.

"Or the fact that—"

A chirping ringtone peeped from Duncan's pocket. It wasn't one of those fancy blueberries or g-phones, _whatever _they were called; it was a regular, prepaid flip phone. The hinge where the top and bottom of the cellphone connected was barely there and the keys had to be literally punched in to dial anything, but it was all he had.

One look of the caller I.D had a shadow of unconcealed anger cloud over Duncan's face. He turned from Courtney, ignoring her questioning look. "Hello?"

His responses to whomever was on the phone were kept brief. Occasionally he would breath out heavily or glare at nothing in front of him. When he hung up he ran his fingers through his fingers over the shaved part of his head in frustration. "I've got to go, Court. I'll see you tomorrow."

"You mean tonight, right?"

He turned to look at her with the same thundering glare he had from his conversation.

"It's just we've been planning on going on a date ever since I've come back from camp, Dunky." She pouted. That nicknamed just irked him. "And between me having to settle in and _you _having mysterious phone calls and meetings with someone you _refuse _to tell me who they are! We haven't spent any time together." She pursed her lips and crossed her arms. "I mean, if we're going to try and make this work…"

And there she went trying to guilt trip him. Usually it worked, but this time he just stared at her. She shifted uncomfortably before her lip began to tremble.

Not wanting to witness some waterworks, Duncan sighed heavily. "Fine, whatever. I'll pick you up tonight at 7."

It started to rain and he flipped up the hood to his sweater as he stalked off. Courtney couldn't only narrow her eyes as she watched him walk away.

-x-

Rain hadn't been in the forecast, but all of a sudden a light drizzle began to pour from the sky. Gwen didn't have an umbrella as she walked to her car, but she didn't mind. The cool water droplets felt good on her skin. She was still heated from the locker room situation. It wasn't so much of anger now as embarrassment.

"_Please, like Goth Girl McPasty could attract anyone besides the delusional hobo who lives behind the gas station."_

Heather's words wouldn't leave her alone. Gwen looked like she had a toughness about her; she dressed like she didn't care, she looked like she didn't care, but in all honesty Gwen was really sensitive. She was just a great liar.

She fought back with anger, but there was always an underlying hurt. She had thick skin but she could still feel the pain from the words. She just didn't let them stick to her, but this time she was having some trouble.

She was attractive. She may have had pale skin, but it was flawless, almost porcelain like. The only scar she had was the tiny one on her nose from when she tried to pierce it herself, but it grew infected and she had to take it out. Her hair was silky, black and short with turquoise highlights.

She had curves. She had been blessed with that. If she dressed like Heather or Lindsay she may have had boys clawing at her, but she didn't and she wouldn't. She liked who she was. She was an acquired taste, non-traditional and totally herself.

She guessed the words wouldn't bother her so much if it didn't remind her so much of Ace. She worried her bottom lip as she continued on to her car. He had said something like that when he'd publicly broken up with her. He was her first and, so far, only boyfriend and that had killed her when he'd done that. She had almost couldn't breathe.

It was hard recovering from having your heart not broken, but destroyed, by someone you gave so much trust to but at least she had Duncan.

A small, sad smile danced on her lips. After finding Gwen crying her eyes out in an empty janitor's closet he hunted Ace down and nearly broke his nose. Ace had been a pretty boy, but not so much after Duncan was through with him. Courtney had done the biggest solid for Gwen, even though they weren't really friends then, they still weren't, but she managed to get Ace shipped off to another school.

Leshawna and Bridgette had tried to cheer her up after that, but she just wasn't the same for a while. She was withdrawn. It was Duncan who went above and beyond to save Gwen from the shell she was becoming and he ditched Courtney many a times when Gwen needed him.

That was probably when Gwen fell the deepest for him because he was her everything at that point. It was also when Courtney felt the most insecure and accused Duncan of cheating and that's when Gwen had her heart crushed again. Duncan didn't like her and he never would, but she bounced back quickly.

Though here they were hooking up and it was reckless on her part. Considering her fragile feelings and his relationship status and not to mention their friendship. Gwen felt like they were in a mine field, one wrong move and _boom_. Everything could fall apart.

Before she could unlock her car door, she spotted a hooded figure quickly walk past. She knew those chains dangling from those shorts pockets from anywhere and that walk; he had always emphasized the swaggering motion of his shoulders.

"Duncan!" She called happily, seeing her best friend stalking off in the opposite direction of her. His shoulders were hunched and he turned around, face hidden beneath his hood. She quickly came over to him.

"Hey, you. What are you doing out here in the rain?" She smiled up at him. "If you need a ride you know I can give you one."

"I'm fine." He said tersely as he tried to move past her, but she blocked his path.

She touched his arm and he pulled away.

"What the hell is your problem Duncan?" She demanded.

"Nothing. Just leave me alone. I don't have time for this or you." His tone held no warmth, neither did his body language. He checked Gwen's shoulder as he passed, making her stumble back some. She stood there stunned for a moment before she turned around, angry tears in her eyes.

"UGH! You asshole! I hate you! You always find ways to fuck things up _don't you_?" Her voice broke towards the end and she couldn't stop the sob that slipped from her lips. She was about to break down. She could feel it. She rushed to the safety of her car where she could cry for as long as she wanted to.

She couldn't believe that asshole! How could he brush her off like that again, like she was an obnoxious bug. If he had been Courtney would he have done the same? No, no he wouldn't have. He was just using her for sex. That's what it felt like and she had encouraged him too. God! How could she have been so stupid?

She should have listened to her brain rather than her sex because it couldn't have been her heart. No, she couldn't love someone as much as an asshole as him. She was done with his game of pushing and pulling.

It took awhile, but Gwen got herself together.

Thank god to whoever discovered water-proof make up. She closely examined her eyes in her sun visor mirror and was pleased to see not one smudge. She had to drop a few eye drops in her dark eyes to get rid of the red, but otherwise no signs that she'd been crying for fifteen minutes in her car.

Her eyes hardened. That was just her one moment of weakness. She wouldn't cry over him anymore more. She considered him dead to her. Maybe that was a little extreme, but sometimes to get through to that boy you had to. She rubbed her arm over her nose and straightened her posture before pulling out of the parking lot. She refused to look at Duncan as she drove past him, missing him stop to look at her disappear around the bend.

She arrived at home not too long later and found that she was alone. She tied her short black hair up in to a small, messy bun revealing the back that was dyed neon green and turned on some music, loud. It was harsh and angry and so was her voice as she sang along, stripping down the day's clothes until she was moving around in nothing but her boy shorts and bra.

"

_If you can't stand the pressure_

_Stay the fuck out of my way!_

_I know my place!_

_This one goes out to everyone_

_Who's lied to my face!_

_My heart is filled with hate!_"

Gwen was getting in to it. Imagining that her pillow was Duncan as she slammed it against her bed multiple times until the feathers began popping out, floating all around her in disarray. She must have looked crazy tearing apart her room like that, but what the hell nobody was watching and she needed an outlet.

She was breathing heavily when she finally stopped, chest heaving in and out, hair fallen out of the hair tie. She had feathers everywhere and it'd be a bitch to clean up, but she'd be lying if that wasn't therapeutic.

She just so happened to look out her window and caught eyes with what must have been a visitor of her neighbors. Their house was beside her and what must have been his bedroom's window was directly across from hers so he most likely saw everything. She squeaked and quickly closed the blinds to her windows, face turning redder than a rose.

"Oh god," Gwen moaned. She hoped she'd never had to face him. He probably thought she was psychotic. She could only imagine what it looked like; her in her underwear, destroying pillows and screaming angry lyrics.

Gwen turned off her stereo, still blushing before she began cleaning up. At least she wasn't thinking about Duncan anymore, but she couldn't keep that stranger's brown eyes out of her head.

-x-

"Gwen, come help me with dinner! We're having guests over and I want you to look nice!" Gwen's mother called up from the stairs. Gwen sighed and paused her game of Evil Dead, mid Zombie slaying. She stretched as she got up, joints popping from a few hours of sitting in the same position. Her homework was on her desk, totally forgotten. She had promised herself she'd be more productive this year, but that hadn't lasted long.

She went out to the hallway and called down from the top of the staircase. "Since when are we having guests?"

"The Bettancourt's nephew just moved in with them! While I was coming back from the store I ran in to them. Since you're around his age I had thought it'd be nice for him to have a friend before going back to school!"

The Bettancourt's were her next door neighbors. They owned the house next to hers with the window where that boy had seen her dancing around in her underwear. Well shit. Gwen paled. "This nephew doesn't happen to have brown hair and brown eyes does he?"

If it was he probably thought he was having dinner with the neighborhood's crazy!

There was a pause before her mother answered. "He has brown hair, but I don't know about brown eyes. Honey, interrogate me later I'm cooking! You'll find out all you need to know when they come over! Now get dressed."

She padded over to her closet and browsed through her choice. Her mother said to look nice, but Gwen's definition of nice included a lot of black, her combat boots and fishnet. She knew what her mother really wanted was that god-awful mint-green sweetheart chiffon dress she'd bought for her in hopes that Gwen would suddenly like things like that. No, it just ended up in the back of her closet.

Gwen slipped the soft material on and sadly skipped over her combat boots for her ballet flats. Her hair was too short to do anything fancy, so she took out her pony tail and let her hair fall. She mussed it a little and called it a day.

When she got down stairs her mother took her roast out of the oven and looked up at Gwen briefly and approvingly. "Get the table ready and then go get your brother and make sure he's wearing something nice! They'll be over soon."

Gwen quickly, and neatly, set the table, knowing how her mother got if things weren't perfect when they were having guests over before she ran upstairs to check on her brother. She knocked on his door once before swinging it open.

"Ah!" She quickly turned around eyes closed as he scrambled to hide the magazine in his hand. Thankfully she hadn't seen anything, but still!

"I'm just going to pretend I did not just walk in on that and tell you that Mom expects you to be ready. Bye." Gwen hurriedly closed the door, possibly scarred for life. That had to be a bad omen. This was going to be one awkward night.

It was a little while later that the doorbell rang. Her mother quickly fixed a last few things before ushering them all to the door.

Gwen wanted to tell her mom it didn't take the whole family to answer the door, but the look she gave her, her brother and father quickly shut any protests up. Her mother opened the door with the whitest smile and hugged the woman at the door before stepping back so that everyone could greet each other.

"Hi, I'm Jeanette Wynters. This is my husband Walter, my son Tyler and our daughter Gwendolyn!"

Everyone smiled politely.

"Such a lovely family. Although, Gwendolyn have I seen you somewhere?" Mrs. Bettancourt asked, eyebrows furrowed as she tried to remember something.

Gwen kept an innocent face and politely smiled. "I don't think so ma'am. Maybe around the neighborhood…" _And not swimming in your pool in my underwear with a boy named Duncan_.

Gwen shyly met eyes with Trent and he did the same. She was totally wrong about his eye color earlier. They weren't brown. They were a shocking, bright green that she couldn't turn her eyes from.

Those same eyes saw her freakish, therapy dance earlier. She looked away, blushing slightly.

"Well why don't you come in? Dinner is all set we should eat it while it's hot." Gwen's mom said ushering everyone in to the dining room where the delicious food was waiting.

Dinner had been a fairly awkward affair. At least for Gwen it had been. While the adults had been boisterous with conversation, Gwen sat across from Trent not sure where to look and kept awkwardly making eye contact with him.

Each time they caught each other's eyes they smiled, but still it was uncomfortable.

Shit! She did it again. Her cheeks were starting to burn from the workout.

"So, uh, we'll be going to the same high school." Trent finally said, starting their first conversation after the millionth eye contact.

At first Gwen kept playing with the crust of her apple pie until she realized he was talking to _her_. She quickly looked up. "Yeah." She swore she wasn't usually this awkward, but something about Trent just made her clam up. It didn't help that he was _cute._

"Anything I should be warned of?" He asked, jokingly.

Gwen laughed a little. "No, you seem like a cool guy. I'm pretty sure you'll fit right in." She said a little bitterly as she thought of Heather.

Trent frowned. "Is that a bad thing?"

"Not unless you like the bitches of high school and the mindless drones." She answered.

Trent tilted his head. "I'm guessing you—"

"Yup and I'm damn proud that I stand out."

Trent was silent before he finally said. "Well, I actually like people who aren't afraid to be different. I never said that I wasn't an outcast." He gave her a wink.

Aching cheeks be damned, Gwen grinned. Ice successfully broken.

"So can we talk about that dance you did earlier?" Trent teased, feeling comfortable enough around Gwen to bring it up.

Horrified, Gwen tried to chuck her pie piece at Trent but almost as if she had eyes all around her head Gwen's mom shot Gwen a dangerous look that made the Goth reconsider.

"Can we _not_ talk about that?" Gwen settled for hissing, face hot.

Trent looked amused, but nodded. "It was a nice welcome in to the neighborhood. I wouldn't mind another show…" He trailed off, looking innocent but the tone behind his words suggested otherwise.

Was he flirting?

Gwen looked away, telling herself she did not just like that because… wait, why couldn't she like it? It wasn't like she was with Duncan. She wanted to, but being his side chick was not going to cut it forever. Especially if he kept acting the way he was.

"Well, too bad. It was a one time sort of thing, but I might be able to make it up to you somehow." She said, feigning the same false innocence he had.

"I look forward to it then." He smiled.

She smiled back.

-x-

Duncan finally collapsed on his bed, anger melting away as he relaxed. Those phone calls always left him frustrated, but this time they had taken it too far. And then _he _had taken it too far and out on Gwen.

He glared at the ceiling. Why did he always fuck things up? He growled and ran his hands over his face. She had been right to yell at him. He was going to have to get her to forgive him somehow.

His phone beeped alerting him of a new text message. He opened it and winced. '_IT IS 8 O CLOCK DUNCAN! WE WERE SUPPOSED TO GO ON A DATE! WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU?_'

Well, at least she didn't call to yell at him.

His phone began to ring.

"Damn." Duncan swore and accepted his fate as he answered the phone only knowing he'd get it worse if he pressed ignore. He'd tried it before.

These were definitely one of the times he wondered why he was dating her. He winced as her screaming assaulted his ears.

* * *

Hot damn it took a long time for this chapter. I feel like I keep getting writer's block _despite the fact that I have plans_. I don't understand my brain ._, I just kept scrapping and had to come back to it, but then I was like "no, people want an update. i will give them an update!" but I feel like this is mediocre... I just wanted to give you guys something because your reviews, alerts and favs are awesome! I forget who I did and did not reply to but thank you~ I wish I could hug you guys lol

Who teh heckz was that on phone? Duncan better get his act together or Trent's gonna steal his girl, haha. What do you guys think? And yes, this will remain Gwen x Duncan, no matter what.


	4. A Daydream Yet to Come

**Chapter 4: A Daydream Yet to Come**

For the past two weeks Gwen had been working at Happy Charlie's. It was a retro diner that exuded a '50's vibe with its classic, cherry red booths, long bar with a line of red chairs, and an actual working jukebox in the corner. The best part though had to be that the waitresses maneuvered around in skates. _Skates_. It was like a dream come true and Gwen had called up as soon as she saw they were hiring.

Her boss had taken one look at her, asked her one question in her heavy southern drawl: What's your name, darlin'? and Gwen was hired on the spot after answering the most simple question. According to the woman she had the look and charisma, which Gwen did not see, but she didn't question it. She got the job she wanted after all. Why ruin it?

Trent had been nice enough to drop her off to work that day. They'd been hanging out so much lately that rumors had been circulating around school. It was all fake so far. They weren't dating. Trent was just a really good friend even though they seemed like polar opposites. She just liked that he wasn't confusing; there was no push/pull, it was all harmonious. She even passed by Duncan this morning, as much as it hurt, to talk to Trent instead. She was slowly moving forward.

"Well here we are." Trent said as he pulled in front of the quaint little diner. She thought it was cute that he didn't trust her car, hell, she didn't even trust her car, and he went out of his way to drop her off.

"Have fun at work." He told her, giving her that boyish smile of his before pulling off in the jeep his Uncle had given to him.

Gwen waved goodbye before entering the restaurant and saying hello to a few of the regulars. Steadily she made her way to the back and clocked in five minutes early. It gave her enough time to put on her apron and tie up her skates. They looked vintage which she loved and it didn't hurt that they were black, her favorite color. Her uniform, true to the diner's theme, was a white polyester dress with a red collar. It was decorated with red, trimmed laced and matched with the red apron tied around her waist.

She glided back out front through the swinging doors and bumped in to Karly, one of her co-workers. Karly was basically the only co-worker of hers that she could tolerate. She just seemed the most real. She had long, black hair, amethyst eyes and a really laid back attitude. A lot of people confused her with Gwen and to be honest the only difference was that Karly had fairer skin and narrower eyes. Otherwise they could be sisters.

"Hey, Gwen!" Karly said, rolling by with trays of dirty dishes carefully balanced on her arms. "It's going to be busy as hell tonight I can tell."

"Well lucky us then." Gwen said wryly, knowing they'd get the brunt of the work because they had lazy co-workers.

"I know." Karly sighed before brightening up, "But listen I'm having a party tonight. You should come!"

Gwen looked like she wanted to decline and Karly quickly spoke up.

"No, you can't say no! You've been really glum lately. It'll be fun, I promise! And if it isn't your scene you can leave, no hard feelings! But I'm really tired of seeing your face like that."

"But my face is always like this." Gwen frowned, but her eyes were contradicting and dancing with laughter.

Karly snickered. "You know what I mean. Just think about it okay?"

-x-

Gwen quickly tied up her hair to help with the sweating. Regardless to whether or not it was a busy night she did love working here, so the prospect of rushing back and forth didn't deter her.

She was now heading over to table #13. She was a little superstitious and it didn't help that every time she had to waitress that specific booth in the corner she always got the most difficult, lewd, or confrontational customers. She had no choice though. The way she was coming up to the booth was angled so that she couldn't see their faces, only that their hands were entwined on the top of the table.

"Duncan!" A voice whined before laughing.

Gwen knew who was in the booth immediately and wished she could do a quick U-turn, but she was already there and Courtney had already seen her and was waving enthusiastically. Like the actress she _wasn't _Gwen plastered on the best smile she could.

"Hey, guys. What can I get'cha?"

Just like she had been for the past few weeks Gwen avoided Duncan's gaze. She just looked over his head before focusing on Courtney.

"Oh wow Gwen you work here?" Courtney asked, sounding so amazed. Gwen resisted rolling her eyes and nodded, tapping her pen gently against the little notepad. "Yup." She softly popped the 'p' before hurrying on. "Well, if you guys are thirsty I can start you off with some drinks."

Courtney skimmed the menu. "I'll just have a water, but maybe I'll take a large raspberry tea too." She said, glaring over at Duncan who made a noise of protest because of the price. "You owe me for standing me up. _Can you believe him?_" Courtney huffed before looking at Gwen and smiling.

Gwen smiled, or rather grimaced.

"What about you, Duncan?" Gwen asked, itching to peel out of there.

He didn't answer so she looked up from her notepad to look at him, just like he'd wanted her to. His eyes were screaming that he was sorry. Well, he should be. She ignored him.

Finally after Courtney's impatient urging he chose to order a strawberry milkshake.

"Great. I'll be back with your drinks real soon." She murmured before turning her back to them and rolling away.

As Gwen came skating back towards Courtney and Duncan with their drinks some kid let his crayons roll off the table and on to the middle of the floor. The little wax sticks disrupted the flow of her skates and Gwen began to wobble to keep her balance. Just as she felt herself going down she felt someone steady her. The crowd broke in to applause as if this were some kind of act and not the most embarrassing moment of Gwen's life.

Blushing, she turned to thank whoever her savior was profusely and continued on watching the ground for objects like a hawk. This was not her night. She'd have to boycott table #13 from now on.

The night went further on without any surprises thankfully. She managed to switch tables with Karly with the promise that she would go to her party, so now Karly was serving Courtney and Duncan while Gwen was serving Karly's tables.

Towards the end of the night one of their co-workers rolled over to Gwen and Karly with a folded napkin in her hand. She handed it to Gwen with the short explanation, "It's from a guy named Duncan" before she left the two alone.

Gwen opened the napkin and scrawled out in pen was 'Sorry'. That was it.

Karly peeked over Gwen's shoulder.

"Is that from Punk boy?"

Gwen crumpled the napkin up and threw it away. "I guess."

"Yeah he'd been asking where you went for the rest of the night. That girl was complaining about his complaining all night. You definitely owe me." Karly glared pointedly before looking at the clock. "And soon. Our shift is almost over." She grinned at Gwen and the Goth felt like she was staring at the Devil.

-x-

Gwen got a ride to Karly's party by Karly herself. They went to the girl's apartment straight after work much to Gwen's chagrin. She had wanted to change in to her own clothing, but Karly claimed she had clothes for her to wear that she'd like. They were about the same size and body shape.

Gwen had to lie to her mom. She said that she was heading to Leshawna's after work then quickly shot a text to Leshawna so that stories would match up. Just in case her mother felt the need to hear some verification, but she doubted that.

So that's how Gwen found herself in the middle of a quasi-dance floor that used to be the living room but all the furniture had been pushed to the walls. At first she'd just been the wallflower until she had been literally dragged on to the dance floor and handed a cup of "something that will loosen you up!" according to Karly.

It wasn't that Gwen had never had alcohol before. It's just she'd never drank _so _much in a short amount of time. Everywhere she turned someone was offering her a red solo cup with some of the strongest liquor that had ever touched her taste buds despite the sweet juices they were mixed with.

At first her face would pinch up from the onset bitterness and then the burn as it traveled down her esophagus, but after a while it strangely became more bearable and Gwen found herself taking shots with everyone. It was… fun, but most of all it helped her forget about today, yesterday and the worries of tomorrow.

Also known as Duncan.

She finally loosened up and began laughing at everything. She may have kissed a boy, or a girl, she didn't know what it was but it had soft hair and purred. She was glad that she had came. Karly had been right she was having fun, so much fun. Eventually though her engine ran out of steam and she had to sit down on the couch because suddenly it wasn't so much fun and she had the most wicked dizzy spell.

She laid her head down on the arm of the couch. She was just going to rest for a while. The party was winding down anyways. She closed her eyes for what felt like a few minutes, but then slowly blinked them open a few hours later. It was dead silent in the house besides the snoring that came all around her. She felt tipsy, but nowhere near the level that she had been a few hours earlier.

She looked around. Not a soul was conscious. How the hell was she going to get home?

"I guess I'll just walk." She said to herself, swaying as she stood up and carefully stepped around the bodies on the floor. The cold air shocked her as she left the house and she wrapped her arms around herself to keep the chills at bay.

She had no idea where she was going. It was dark, she was still feeling the effects of her drinking, and she was tired. Her feet were beginning to hurt and suffocate in her boots so she momentarily stopped to sit on a curb and took them off.

So now she was walking around in the wee hours of the morning, barefooted, and probably looking suspicious. She hoped she didn't run in to any patrolling cops.

Headlights headed her way and she squinted. It was driving too slowly to be any good. Paranoid, she took a detour and began walking through people's backyards. She mentally apologized for stepping in to what looked like Mrs. Yee's flower garden. She knew how anal the old woman was about her garden and now her hydrangeas were crushed between Gwen's toes.

She walked through a few more backyards and gardens before she finally recognized that she was almost home. She clambered over another fence and hit the ground with the grace of a newly born fawn.

The crystal blue water of her neighbor's pool reflected the lights that were decorated on the back porch. It was so pretty she almost wanted to jump in. She knew this pool was familiar, but it wasn't processing.

"Gwen?" A voice asked in disbelief.

Gwen heard the voice too late and tripped over its owner's body. She looked down and laughed. "Oh, it's Trent! Sorry I didn't see you there." She then noticed the guitar. "I didn't know you play the guitar! Wow!"

Trent looked over at his guitar too. "Yeah, I play a little. I'm actually in a band." He said.

"Aaawesome." Gwen replied, dragging out the 'awe' way too long as she smiled.

Trent tilted his head as he stared at Gwen. "…Are you drunk?"

"Nah." She waved him off, hitting his shoulder lightly.

Trent smiled as he debunked her lie. "I can smell it on you especially since you're like right on top of me."

Gwen looked down as if she couldn't trust the feeling of lying on the soft body below her as proof. Sure enough she was all over Trent. "Oh wow." She said, surprised, "Should I move? You're so soft! Like a teddy bear!"

Trent laughed.

"Okay I guess I should get off since I probably weight a ton." She rolled over on to the soft grass beside him and looking up at the stars. This reminded her so much of her and Duncan, especially that summer night that changed everything. Her light mood plummeted.

She vaguely heard Trent lay down beside her.

"What're you doing out here so late?" Trent asked.

"Mm, soul searching." Gwen said after a while.

"Did you find the answers to your question at the bottom of all that vodka?" He asked, amused.

"Mm, maybe." She snorted. "How about you? You're not exactly in bed."

"I couldn't sleep." Trent answered. "So I came out here to strum a few chords and look up at the stars. It's really peaceful. You probably think that's weird though…"

"Looking at the stars? Actually, I love the constellations. I think my favorite has to be Orion. I know everyone always says that, but I have my reasons." She said, cryptically. It seemed like everything she did tied back to _him_.

Why wouldn't he leave her head? It was driving her insane. It was like the more she tried to redirect her thoughts, the faster her brain found routes back to the boy that was slowly pushing her off the deep end.

"I don't really know any constellations besides the Little Dipper." Trent admitted honestly and Gwen laughed. "I usually just make my own. Like, you see those five stars over there. It looks like a man on an adventure."

"…Sure." Gwen said, tilting her head. "I think I can see it. What is he searching for?"

"The most beautiful girl in all of the galaxy."

Gwen smiled. "I hope he finds her."

"He's pretty confident he already has."

Gwen looked over at Trent the same time he looked at her. She gazed in to his eyes feeling like she was missing something before they landed on his guitar. "Can you play me something?" She asked.

Trent nodded and sat up, placing his guitar gingerly in to his lap. It didn't look like another object, but rather an extension of himself. He looked thoughtful for a moment before his fingers began moving and music filled the air. Gwen felt her lips curl upwards and she closed her eyes to experience the music.

_" This is the first day of my life_

_I swear I was born right in the doorway_

_I went out in the rain suddenly everything changed_

_They're spreading blankets on the beach_

_Yours is the first face that I saw_

_I think I was blind before I met you_

_Now I don't know where I am _

_I don't know where I've been_

_But I know where I want to go..."_

Gwen hadn't realized she fell asleep until she woke up cold and wet from morning dew and fog. She sat up and recognized that the sweatshirt Trent had been wearing that night had been thrown over her. She looked over and the boy was sleeping.

She covered him the sweatshirt and stood up, the world still topsy-turvy if not worse than before. She was never going to drink again if this hangover was anything to go by.

She clumsily climbed over the picket fence that lead to her house and shifted the heavy flower pot to search for the key underneath. Quietly, she opened the back sliding doors to her silent house and closed it behind her as silently as possible.

Blue light filled the living room she had to walk through to get to the staircase and she shook her head at her brother who was staring mindlessly at a computer game. He didn't even notice her. She crept up the stairs, avoiding the creaky steps, and reached her room ready to collapse on to the bed.

She locked her room door and managed to stumble around and strip down to her bra and panties, leaving her clothes haphazardly on the floor before collapsing in to her bed. God, her head was throbbing something fierce. She closed her eyes so that the room would stop spinning and slowly she began to drift away to Dreamland.

In her dream it was foggy and as far as she could see bright with white light. Everything was exposed. There were no shadows. The air felt thick and she literally had to gulp in air through her mouth or else she'd suffocate. It felt like there were eyes all around her, staring at her and judging her and when she looked down she was naked.

"Don't look at me!" She shouted, but found her voice was mute. No matter how hard she screamed no sound would force itself from her throat.

After fruitlessly screaming and looking like a live action silent movie Gwen decided to run away from the judging eyes. She began her escape, legs pumping, but found herself moving in slow motion. _They were catching up to her, the eyes._

Before she knew it hands were all over her, touching her legs, her arms, her shoulder blades, her breasts and then there was an incessant tapping. She struggled and struggled until she woke up with a jolt, eyes glazed and her head still pounding.

She looked around for a minute, dazed and confused. It took her another minute to realize that it had only been a dream. She sighed and pulled her knees to her chest to rest her head on them. There was a knocking on her window that sounded exactly like the one in the dream and it startled her. She was still dreaming, wasn't she?

She walked over to the window, unlocked it and opened it for Duncan who climbed in without so much of a hello. He didn't even ask permission to come through her window at the crack of dawn, but she guessed that was just Duncan. Even in her dreams he was still a jerk. She felt too sick and gross to yell at him or pretend to hate him when she honestly didn't.

"Why are you here? I'm trying to sleep and keep The Eyes away." She said, annoyance lacing her tone.

Duncan looked at her like she was a mutated alien coming to abduct and probe him. That would be pretty funny, and ironic; her probing him instead of him probing her. She giggled at the mental image.

"Are you drunk?" He asked.

"Second person to ask that. 'M not." She said, unconvincingly before continuing on, "Listen here Duncan. Unless you're here to help me combat The Eyes then I suggest you fly away or do whatever it is you do when gravity doesn't matter anymore."

"What the fuck." Duncan whispered, looking so confused it was cute, she thought, before he shook his head disregarding Gwen's nonsensical sentence. "Listen, Gwen I know it's early as hell but I couldn't sleep."

"That makes only one of us."

He continued on like she hadn't interrupted him. "I know I had been a jerk to you. A complete asshole, even, but I want to say I'm sorry. There I said it."

His apology went in one ear and out the other because Gwen was falling asleep standing before him. "Shh, I've got to get back to bed now before they come. You talk too much." She said bluntly before walking back over to her bed and burying herself under her blankets until she was just a lump under purple blankets.

She was barely conscious when she felt the bed dip behind her and arms wrap themselves around her body. The Eyes were back! She elbowed the body behind her and kicked it out of the bed, hearing the heavy thump to the floor, before smiling to herself.

She won. They couldn't judge her now.

* * *

I'm no dream expert, but I sometimes believe dreams are your subconscious trying to tell you something so I gave it a shot. I "attempted" (key word) to be metaphorical. Gwen's dream meaning is (probably) really straight forward and is one of her biggest fears. Can you tell? Also, so much Trent and Gwen in this chapter! And a little Duncan (unless that was a dream…) Is this chapter a dream? IS THIS STORY A DREAM? IS YOUR LIFE A DREAM? WILL I STOP BEING LAME NOW? Yes, yes I will.

**ENDGAME IS STILL DUNCAN/GWEN**. Bolded so you can see that. I don't know whether or not you guys read my A/N's, skim it, skip over it, but I'm just having a little fun with Trent. He's a sweetheart, but he's only a means to a conclusion.

That being said.

Thank you for the reviews last chapter!~

**To Guest - **I'm not sure if you're two of the same, or just two people who named themselves Guest but don't hide your love of TDI, haha! Also, don't hate Trent! At least not in this story. I will try to change your opinion of him. Yes, my titles are song titles since I lack creativity trolol and I thank you for your compliments and review ccc:

There I think I finally replied to everyone this time 'round c: so merci beacoup tout le monde. I'm pretty sure I pumped this chapter out so fast from your motivation so hug yourselves for me, yeah? Hope you enjoyed this. I actually had fun writing this chapter. Ending made me giggle.

(I do not own the song placed in this chapter. It belongs to Bright Eyes. Chapter title also belongs to Moloko.)


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